Emerald Eyes
by Bethany Tucker
Summary: Short drabble about how Holden feels about Andie and Liv. Second chapter takes place after triangle a rooney. Chapter 2 now up!
1. Chapter 1

Andie was... Great. Amazing in fact.

She was everything Holden looked for in a girl.

She was cool, funny, creative, and no one could deny she was attractive.

So it confused Holden, and made him almost... Angry, at himself for feeling the way he did.

For feeling like he was living a lie, and for feeling like it wasn't right. He felt guilty, and he wasn't sure why.

Or at least he wasn't sure why, up until the moment Andie slipped her warm hands, rough from gripping hard metal tools, into his calloused hands, and smiled at him. But it wasn't the hand holding that made him feel as guilty as he did, although that added to it.

No, it was the strange longing he had. The one that ached for something he couldn't have. The one that wished the warm glimmering brown eyes staring up at him, were the beautiful emerald green eyes belonging to the one and only Liv Rooney.

She was... Nothing like anyone Holden had ever met.

Way back when, even before she was a huge star, he had really liked her.

He loved her bouncy yellow-gold curls, and her nails, that would be a different color every day. He liked how even then, he was taller than her. He loved her smile, and her cute awkward giggle. But most of all, he admired her generosity and kindness. The way she would help whoever needed it as best she could.

His friends would tease him about him liking her, and so to make them stop, he stole her pen. But that seriously backfired, she HATED him after that.

She would avoid him, and sometimes glare at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

Even now, He still felt awful, even though he had apologized and had been forgiven, he regretted it.

Maybe if he hadn't done that, he would be holding her hand. Maybe he would be looking down, into HER eyes. Andie was great. She really was. But Holden didn't want "great." He wanted Liv. Which is why it stung so much, to see Liv smile at him and Andie, to actually support them.

But there was something that confused Holden.

That smile didn't reach her eyes.

"I'm so happy for you two! My best friend, and my... Next door neighbor friend!" she giggled.

Holden chuckled.

"I know, right? Isn't it great?" Andie asked, happily.

Liv nodded, slowly.

"Uh, yeah. Sooooo great."

As she said this, her eyes seemed to be saying something along the lines of: "As soon as you leave, I'm going to fall apart."

Liv's eyes started to water, ever so slightly.

"Liv! Are you okay?" Holden asked.

Andie looked concerned.

Liv nodded, and gave a sad smile.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I just have super bad allergies."

"But you said you weren't allergic to anything..." Andie trailed off, her eyebrows raised.

"It's allergies!" Liv exclaimed, closing her locker, and quickly walking off to class.

"That was weird..." Andie said. "Anyway, ready for algebra?"

Holden looked at their intertwined hands.

"Yeah. I guess so."

But as they walked down the hallway, towards their class, the image of Liv's eyes wouldn't leave his mind. The nervous, kind of jealous, wishful expression that was embedded in her shimmery green orbs.

But... He must have imagined it... Right?


	2. Chapter 2

She... She liked him BACK?

Olivia Rooney, a famous actress/singer/superstar liked him, Holden Dippledorf, back?!

It didn't make sense to him.

It was confusing, terrifying, maddening, and painful all at once. But he still couldn't shake the butterflies in his stomach as her words echoed through his head.

The first part, at least, gave him butterflies.

"Holden, I really like you too. You're a really great guy."

It was the last part that made him ache. He felt almost sick to his stomach, and his head hurt just THINKING about how stupid he had been.

"But you know I can't date you. I mean, Andie's my friend, and she's hurting a lot right now, and I'm not just going to hurt her more. Friends don't do that to each other. I'm sorry."

But that wasn't what hurt so much.

It was that he had had the choice between Liv and Andie when he first got there. He could have turned Andie down and asked Liv to the dance.

But he didn't.

He had a choice, and he chose wrong.

He felt so stupid, and like he had just screwed up what could have been the rest of his life.

Holden had always been a bit of a romantic, and so when he returned from school, and saw Liv again, he allowed himself to daydream about her, and to let those old romantic feelings towards her to return.

And then he started going to Ridgewood, and he began to see her more... He started to fall for her all over again.

He could see it now, their love story.

The story of how they'd met, and the pen, and how she'd hated him. The tale of how he'd returned, and made things right.

The wonderful fairytale of a daydream that lived in his mind, the one that dreamed that he and Liv might get married one day, and they'd get to tell their closest friends and family all about their love story.

He'd propose, probably at a park, and he'd get down on one knee, nervous as heck. But she'd nod her head, and all his anxiety and fear would melt away. He rise to his feet, and slip the ring on her finger. They'd both smile wide, with tears in their eyes.

Liv would probably spend months planning and fretting over the wedding, and in the end, it would all be worth it.

He could picture her walking towards him, in a beautiful white dress.

They would say "I do."

Then shortly after that, in his mind, they would have a child, and they could teach that child to be kind, and good. They'd teach it to be loving towards others, and to be selfless.

They would tell that child about how they'd met, and they'd laugh and laugh about how rough things had started out for them.

Then they would watch that child grow up, and start their own love story.

He imagined Liv, with smile lines around her eyes, adorning her aging face, gray streaks in her hair, but still as breathtakingly beautiful as the day he'd realized he loved her, with tears in her eyes as she realized their baby was growing up, and fast.

He'd comfort her, and they would support their child.

For some odd reason, he looked forward to all the trials and hardships of being a married adult, because so long as he had Liv by his side, he knew that they'd make it.

In his mind, she was his.

But this was reality, and reality was cruel.

He had chosen wrong, and that was a fact that couldn't be overlooked.

Holden admired Liv for being a good friend to Andie, but it hurt him.

It hurt because all those big dreams of his, the ones that entertained his mind late at night before he fell asleep, the wonderful, beautiful daydream that had only grown since being in the band with Liv, was gone.

It was shattered. It couldn't happen now. Or if it could, the chances of it were slim to none.

He was out of luck, and out of hope.

But the hardest part about all of this? Saying those two words. "I understand."

Because, he didn't want to understand. He didn't want to do the honorable and good thing. He didn't want to walk away.

He wanted his dream.

But still, he was nothing if not a good friend, and a respectful gentleman.

However, it didn't make it hurt any less.

He would never forget the heartbroken look on Liv's face when he turned to leave, leaving her only with those two cold words.

But if he had allowed himself to say anymore, it would have broken them both, more so than they already were.

It was all gone now.

The dream was truly dead.

But still... The dreamer in Holden, as deeply buried as it was, refused to believe it was truly over.

"Maybe, this isn't over. Just maybe, there's still a chance," whispered the heart.


End file.
